Doctor Mom Saves Her Own Son's Life After He Collapses on the Soccer Field

When your child suffers an injury, your maternal instincts kick into high gear and you run to see what you can do. But when Gina Agredano's 16-year-old son collapsed on the soccer field and went into cardiac arrest mid game, not only did her maternal instincts go into overdrive, but her work as a physician helped to save her son's life.

Jose Agredano Jr. was playing in his final junior varsity soccer game of the season in Hollister, CA, when he was hit in the chest with the ball and fell to the ground. His mother was there immediately to save his life. "I wasn't ready to lose him," Gina told Today. "I think as a mother, it was the hardest thing I've had to do in my life."

They later found out that Jose was hit in the heart, throwing it "into an abnormal rhythm, and the only way to recover is CPR and electrical shock." They immediately called 911, but the second Gina saw her son stop breathing she said "it was game on," explaining that she kept telling herself he was not going to die.

"All of those emotions just stopped, and it was like a surge of adrenaline, this fight-or-flight-type thing, that my son's not going to die," she said. "That took over."

You never know what you're capable of until you're in a situation when your child's life is in question, and Gina did all the right things to save her child's life. "I always have seen her as a hero and an amazing person," Jose said about his mom. He explained that after she saved him, "I looked at her a little brighter. She's a giver and she's really smart and she doesn't give up."

Gina told the Stanford Children's Hospital that her knowledge of CPR and understanding of when it should be administered is what truly saved his life.